Nail clipper



Feb. 6, 1951 v. HANSEN 2,540,782 NAIL CLIPPER Filed June 3, 1949 T- l g2E g3 IN V EN TOR. VHA/G HMA/SEN HTTORNEY Patented F eb. 6, 1951 NAILCLIPPER Vang Hansen, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor of onethird to Harold A.Large and one-third to Paul Vorwerk, both of Brooklyn,

Application June 3, 1949, Serial No. 96,995

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in nail clippers.

One of the objects oi this invention is to produce a nail clipper thatwill be readily-operable to trim the finger nails of the user and at thesame time will protect the adjacent cuticie from possibility of cuttingor injury.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the characterspecied in which the cutting element or knife will be so completelyenclosed and protected at all times and especially7 during use that itmay be used by children or irresponsible adults.

Another object of my invention is to produce an eicient nail clipperthat is small, light and durable, capable of being carried in the pocketof the user and composed of few simple parts that may be easilyassembled and is economical to manufacture.

Another object of my invention is in a device of the character speciedto provide a iinger-andnail guiding-frame member and a knife memberpreferably included in a housing composed of a pair of telescopingmembers, one of which is provided with a depressed curvilinearfinger-guiding wall shaped to guide and guard the iingertip and having anarrow nail-insertion arcuate or downwardly-curved slot adapted toreceive the projecting portion of a iinger nail only and to ex clude allother parts of the guided nger.

Another object of my invention is to combine with a nail insertionopening of the type specied means within the housing adjacent the saidslot for limiting the length of the nail that may be inserted.

With these and other objects in View, the invention comprises thecombination of members and arrangement of parts so combined as to conact and cooperate with each other in the peru formance of the functionsand the accomplishment of the results herein contemplated, and comprisesin one of its adaptations the species or preferred form illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an enlarged View in of a nail clipper embodying my the partsin extended or normal position;

Fig. 2 is a similar View in side elevation of the device shown in Fig.l;

iront elevation invention with Fig. 3 is a similar View in rearelevation of the device shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a similar1yen1arged view in :front elevation of the deviceshown in showing the position after tion;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line .5-5 of Fig. 2, looking in thedirection of the arrows;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section on the line 6--6 of Fig. l, looking in thedirection of the arrows;

Fig. 7 is a vertical section on the line lof Fig. Il, looking in thedirection of the arrows;

Fig. 8 is a cross-section on the line S-B of Fig. l, looking in thedirection of the arrows; and

Fig. 9 is a cross-section on the line 9-9 of Fig. 3, looking in thedirection of the arrows.

Referring now to these drawings which illustrate a preferred embodimentof my invention, l indicates an enclosing housing embodying a holdingand linger-guiding frame member and a knife bearing to and, as shown,these members comprise a semi-cylindrical inner and outer housingsections 2 and 3 closed at their outer ends 4 and 5 and having openportions and 6a connected together by a telescopic joint. As shown, thesections 2 and 3 are telescopically or slidably engaged and areinterconnected by a connection comprising a longitudinal slot l and teat8. As illustrated, the teat is formed on the inner knife-bearing member2 and the slot is formed on the outer frame member 3. The telescopingsections so combined provide a device which` not only encloses, concealsand guards all movable parts but is neat in appearance, small in size,(being about one-half the length, width and thickness of the enlargedillustrations shown in the drawings) and light in weight. Consequentlythe device is capable of being carried in the pocket of the user.

The housing section 3 comprises an outer member having a frame ormounting portion ila and housing section 2 comprises an inner memberhaving a knife edge portion 2a and telescopically movable within theouter member. Both oi these members have depressed frame faces arcuatein cross-sectional conformation to enable the fitting thereinto and theguiding and guarding thereby of the rounded end of the nger of the user.The frame or mounting portion of the outer member thus has a guidingface for the finger tip and this face is provided with a narrowdownwardly-curved, arcuate nail-insertion slot 9 passing through thedepressed guiding face of the Figs. l to' 3, and parts of the device incontracted having performed a cutting operamember movable relativelytherel portions 3 frame or mounting portions of the outer member andextending transversely of said guide face into the guided path of theknife-edge portion 2EL during the telescoping movement of the parts.

In the embodiment shown, y, the inner knifeembodying housing-member 2preferably has suitablyattached at its upper end by soldered joint I aspiral spring li. This spring Il extends downwardly within the section 2through the open end thereof and into contact with an abutment member l2which I preferably insert in the outer member 3 and which provides asupporting shelf l2e that is located just above the nail slot 9 andengages the free end of the spring i i. The abutment member l2 hasnotched B2b which serve as insertion-limiting surfaces for the nail ofthe user and said member I2 is U-shaped and open at its lower end toprovide legs I2c extending to the bottom of the section 2 of the device.

The rear bottom portion of the outer frame section 2 is also preferablyprovided with an outlet opening I3 to permit nails which are cut off tobe expelled from the Venclosed casing 3.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention shown, each of the members 2and 3 is formed of a single blank of sheet metal suitably bent in a dieto provide the arcuate depressed knife and frame faces while oppositeside or wing portions are bent rearwardly toward each other intosemi-cylindrical form with the edges in Contact with each other at therear of the device, while the top and bottom portions are benttransversely to the longitudinal axis of the device so as to close eachof the semi-cylindrical members at one end. The opposite ends are openand the open ends of the members are arranged to be telescoped toprovide housings or enclosures as hereinabove specified. As illustrated,the inner member ts snugly within the outer member to provide means forguiding the telescopic movement therebetween.

The inner knife-embodying member is preferably formed of a suitablehardened metal such as steel and has at its lower end the knife edge 2awhich is preferably disposed on a bias extending transversely from oneedge of the face to the other. This bias-arrangement of the knife edgeassists in severing of the nails by a cutting or slicing operationrather than by a chopping operation.

In operation, the device is held in one hand of the user as shown inFigs. 6 and '7 while a 'nger nail of the other hand is inserted in theslot in the housing section 2. Upon squeezing of the fingers togetherthe spring Il will be compressed between the upper end of the section 2and the abutment member as shown in Fig. 7, and the downwardlytelescoping'movement of the member 2 within the member 3 will cut oifthe inserted portion of the finger nail. This operation is repeated asrequired to trim the finger nails on one hand of the user whereupon thedevice is transferred to the other hand and the finger nails on theopposite hand will be similarly inserted in the slot 9 and cut.

It will be obvious that I have provided a very simple, neat, eiiicientand useful nail clipping device having the advantages hereinabovespecified.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A nail clipper embodying, in combination, an outer tubular framemember having a depressed longitudinally-disposed arcuate fingertipguiding-face portion and provided in said arcuately-depressed face witha transverse nailinsertion slot, a tubular knife-embodying membermovable telescopically Within said frame member and having a face ofsimilarly-,depressed arcuate shape provided with a knife-edge portionmounted to move in slidable engagement with the rear surface of saidarcuately depressed finger-tip guiding-face portion of the frame member,means engagingboth members for normally pressing said parts resilientlyinto extended position, each of said members havingtransverselypositioned finger-holding portions' whereby the squeezing`by the ngers of the user on said iinger-holding portions will enablethe knife member t obe depressed and sever a finger nail inserted withinsaid slot.

2. A nail clipper embodying, in combination, an outer tubular framemember having a depressed longitudinally-disposed arcuate ngertipguiding-face portion' and provided in said arcuately-depressed face witha transverse nailinsertion slot, a tubular knife-embodying membermovable telescopically within said frame member and having a face ofsimilarly-depressed arcuate shape provided with a knife-edge portiondismsed on a bias extending transversely from one side edge of saiddepressed arcuate guidingface to the other and mounted to move inslidable engagement with the rear surface of said arcuately depressedfinger-tip guiding-face portion of the frame member, means engaging bothmembers for normally pressing said parts resiliently into extendedposition, each of said members having transversely-positionedfinger-holding portions whereby the squeezing by the fingers of the useron said finger-holding portions will` enable the knife member to bedepressed and sever a finger nail inserted within said slot.

3. A nail clipper as claimed in claim 2 in which the frame membercomprises a lower h ousing section open at its upper end, theknife-embodying member comprises a housing-section open at its lower endand each of said housing sections is composed of a single strip of sheetmetal formed and bent intermediate its ends to provide said arcuatedepressed portion, side portions extending rearwardly therefrom andtransversely extending top and bottom portions,

' VNG HANSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 340,212 Heath et al. Apr. 20,1886 589,405 Billings Sept. '7, 1897 964,561 Salviolo July 19, 19101,908,890 Burns May 16, 1933

